“I don’t want to be here anyway” (Warriors 109, Suns 117)

I finally sequestered my nerves, bit the bullet, and credentialed my way into a Warriors game. Some off-the-cuff musings on the Warriors’ third-to-last preseason game, before the second preseason (also known as the regular season) begins…

I haven’t really experienced imposter syndrome in my life (which is probably indicative of the risk-averse manner in which I lead my life), but today, it happened. I bypassed 2 long lines of cars, parked in the wrong lot despite repeated warnings not to do so, and finally followed someone who looked like he knew what he was doing into the media room, where I promptly bumped into a slew of personalities I’ve been reading or watching for years. It was a very surreal, out-of-body-esque experience, and one that I hope becomes more commonplace and less intimidating as time marches on! My sincere thanks to everyone who helped me out through the night, particularly when I looked dazed, confused, or lost.

Steve Kerr’s pregame presser was short and to the point – the Dubs were without Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and Shaun Livingston and thus trotted out a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Danuel House Jr., Kevin Durant, Kevon Looney, and Damian Jones. The much-repeated line was that this was a huge opportunity for the younger guys to try to earn a spot on the roster. Steve Kerr expressed a ton of affinity for this particular group, commending their work ethic and their effort in practice, and was extolling the virtues of two-way contracts as a vehicle to maximize their utility to the team. Mentioned briefly was the status of Pat McCaw – Kerr had nothing further to add to what is already known, and the impression I got is that the Warriors are preparing for life without their young wing.

The Suns, on the other hand, are an organization in disarray, despite the vast quantity of young talent on their roster. Owner Robert Sarver axed GM Ryan McDonough earlier today, replacing him with a GM-by-committee (like that has ever worked), and he apparently wants to get more involved in the day-to-day operations of his franchise. Bear in mind…this is a team that has been at the bottom of the West for years now and has had every opportunity to let their GM go; and yet, they waited until a week before the season begins to hand him a pink slip. It was a move reminiscent of last season’s decision to fire coach Earl Watson after just 3 games – random, haphazard, and chaotic.

NBA players are absolutely as tall in person as they seem to be on TV.

The main storyline for this contest will be Steve Kerr’s ejection, and with good reason: it was, in a word, epic. I was sitting next to Adam and ChrisL as it transpired, and we experienced the full spectrum of emotions: unbridled rage at another (in our eyes) ridiculous offensive foul call on Steph, frustration with the reffing, which was overzealous, and comedy as Steve Kerr marched onto the floor, chased by Mike Brown, who had a huge grin plastered on his face as he pretended to try to slow down Kerr. As Kerr got tossed, in the style of baseball managers from the days of yore, he told Ben Taylor “I don’t want to be here anyway” and exited the arena, stopping to high-five a few of his players and to say something to DeMarcus Cousins that caused him to laugh loudly. After the game, Ray Ratto insinuated that Kerr had reservations at Il Fornaio that he needed to keep – Kerr didn’t confirm or deny that theory, but he did say that he wanted to be the first in the locker room to get access to the eats made available there midway through the third quarter.

I cannot begin to describe how disjoint this game was. Part of the issue is that it was a preseason game, with vast swathes of the Warriors roster given the night off entirely (and the Suns roster not being very good, seemingly cobbled together from NBA detritus). But the reffing was also a huge factor, with countless possessions being interrupted by ticky-tack offensive foul calls. The NBA does make certain calls points of emphasis during the preseason, but frankly this was ridiculous. Breathing on someone isn’t a moving screen. The fact that both Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant picked up Ts (along with Steve Kerr of course) in an utterly meaningless preseason game should tell you all you need to know. Steph posted a picture on Instagram after the game with the caption “I guess I need to learn how to set a back screen again,” complete with a facepalm emoji.

The expected storyline for this game, the performance of the young bigs, was overshadowed by all the shenanigans above, but my verdict is that they all showed some positive flashes. Damian Jones lacks good hands and finesse around the basket, but he had a few excellent passes and finished the night with 5 assists, tied for most on the team. The bad news was that he got lost a number of times on defense, although I am not sure how much blame to ascribe to him versus the other people on the floor with him. He did have a monster swat of Ryan Anderson which showed good awareness in rotating over and good timing in elevating for the block. Kevon Looney was his usual self, defending the pick and roll at a high level whilst making himself a threat on dive cuts to the rim. Jordan Bell flashed a wing jumper and showed off his defensive prowess in his time on the floor. Steve Kerr has said that “big by committee” is how he’s going to start the season, and with the different assets that each of the aforementioned players brings to the table, I’m excited to see how everything fits together.

Of the youngsters vying for Pat McCaw’s roster spot, assuming he (McCaw) doesn’t report by Saturday, I think Alfonzo McKinnie did the most to help his case, putting up 11 points on 5-7 shooting to go with 6 boards, an assist, a steal, and a block. He didn’t look out of place defensively and showed confidence on a variety of different offensive looks. Danuel House Jr. got the start, but didn’t really have any sort of impact on the game (4 points, a board, and a block in 20 minutes); that being said, the fact that he got the start indicates some level of confidence in the coaching staff that he can contribute, and he was on the floor with Steph and KD a lot, where they vacuumed up the majority of touches. In my opinion, Jacob Evans III is the likeliest candidate to find himself down in Santa Cruz to start the season, by virtue of his erratic jumper. His defense throughout the game was excellent (and never really in doubt), but his shot is just off (1-4 FGA, 0-3 from beyond the arc). Mechanically, ChrisL and I agree that things look good, but the trajectory of his shot is flat and his confidence isn’t all that high. If the Dubs are looking for a defensive specialist, Evans might be the guy. But it is hard to hide a total offensive non-threat, even in the NBA regular season, and Evans right now doesn’t look ready to contribute on that end of the floor.

Ryan Andersen might not be able to defend anyone…but the dude can shoot the tar out of the basketball. And somehow, he’s reinvented himself as an offensive rebounding expert. He has a knack for finding his way to missed shots despite his total lack of athleticism.

Jonas Jerebko finds himself in the “Omri Casspi Memorial Ring-Chaser” position, but there is one key difference between him and his predecessor: Jerebko has no qualms about launching from beyond the arc. Jonas finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a number of crunchy screens, and one attempt to draw a charge. His energy was another of the minimal bright spots in this game.

Apropos commentary – Boogie Cousins was on the air with Fitz and JB, and he (apparently) talked about how the league is moving towards eliminating his position, and so he’s had to evolve his game to get with the times, so to speak. The particular breed of center thats being eliminated is exemplified by Tyson Chandler, who was a force earlier in his career but is now being forced to try to defend guys like Steph on the perimeter. Good luck (Steph buried a 3 in Chandler’s face mid-2Q).

Obviously the Warriors aren’t going to reveal a ton of looks in the preseason…but a Steph-screening-for-KD set is almost always money. They ran one mid 2Q with Kevon Looney in the high post, and sprung KD for an easy dunk.